


Mountain Cabin

by SolosOrca



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M, hinted at sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 05:42:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12292521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolosOrca/pseuds/SolosOrca
Summary: Tezuka meets someone very unexpected when he goes on holiday to Atobe's mountain cabin.





	Mountain Cabin

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday Tezukaaaaaaaa!!! This fic isn't about Tezuka much (it's more about Ryoma oops), but it's from Tezuka's POV so I'm giving this fic to Tezuka as his birthday present. Tezuka's perfect and I love him so muuuuuch!!!

The Atobe family’s mountain cabin was usually empty so there never was any issue when Tezuka asked for a week in it. Atobe always gave him the keys without any argument and told him he could have it anytime he wanted. Tezuka didn’t take him up on that kindness other than one week in late October every year, feeling like any more was imposing.

“There’s someone else in there at the moment,” Atobe had told him and assured Tezuka that they’d get along, especially if Tezuka was going to spend more time out of the house than in it. Tezuka didn’t feel he had the right to complain – it wasn’t his house after all- and he knew how big the place was. Besides, he could just sit in his room if he wanted to be alone.

The trip up to the cabin took 3 train journeys followed by two bus trips and a hike up a mountain path. Atobe had offered him both a helicopter ride up and, when Tezuka had refused, a car with a driver, but Tezuka had turned that offer down too. Public transport was perfectly fine for him and it was relaxing gazing out the window as the scenery got more and more rural.

He shouldered his backpack and picked up his suitcase as the bus drew to a halt at his stop. It was a sunny day, but the air held an autumn chill making Tezuka very glad he’d chosen to wear gloves. The walk up to the cabin was along a private road, winding up the side of a hill, surrounded by trees.

The cabin came into view half an hour later, just as the weight of his backpack and suitcase were beginning to take their toll on him. He was very glad once he’d hauled the suitcase up the steps and opened the front door.

The other guest wasn’t immediately visible as Tezuka walked in and took his shoes off. It was only mid-afternoon though so Tezuka assumed they must be out walking. He headed straight up to his usual room, carefully knocking and making sure the other occupant of the cabin hadn’t taken it for themselves. He was very happy to find that the room was completely untouched and he took it for himself and unpacked.

Tezuka was just finishing hanging up his shirts when the door creaked ajar. Confused, he looked around and found himself staring at a cat, who was looking at him curiously.

“You must belong to the other person here,” Tezuka said to the cat who just blinked at him before turning and stalking off. Tezuka didn’t go after it, he’d never been a cat person.

After unpacking, he decided to take a bath in the ensuite bathroom to ease his travel stiffened muscles. He wouldn’t normally take a bath in the afternoon, but he was on holiday so he decided to treat himself.

The bathroom was light, airy and luxurious with a large window looking out over the mountains. Tezuka ran himself a bath and sunk into the warm water. After a while, he heard the front door open and close and someone wandering around downstairs. That would be his cabin buddy.  Tezuka supposed he better introduce himself.

Once fully dressed, he headed downstairs. He really hoped what Atobe had told him was true and that they would get along, it was going to be a long week otherwise.

His companion for the week was sat on the sofa in the sitting room, his back to Tezuka and only a mop of black hair visible. Tezuka cleared his throat to announce his presence.

The hair turned around, revealing a very familiar face, which broke into a wide smile.

“Tezuka?” Echizen said, the smile morphing into a self-satisfied smirk. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Echizen,” Tezuka greeted him politely. The shock of seeing him again quickly was replaced by happiness. “It’s been a while.”

Echizen snorted, “A while? It’s been at least five years!”

It was longer, Tezuka knew, but he didn’t say anything. He was glad he wasn’t going to be sharing the cabin with a random stranger. It was so good to see Echizen again, he’d always regretted not putting in the effort to stay in contact.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Tezuka said, sitting on the seat opposite the sofa Echizen was sprawled across.

“Yeah, well,” Echizen shrugged. “I wanted to get away from the media and Atobe offered me this place.”

Tezuka nodded, he knew the story- he doubted many people in Japan didn’t.

Beloved hero, Echizen Ryoma, had been cheated on by his long-term girlfriend. His girlfriend he’d been planning to marry.

The thing was, Echizen didn’t look all that upset about it. Tezuka may not have seen Echizen for years, but he could tell the other man wasn’t at all torn up about this turn of events in his love life.

“I’m sorry,” Tezuka said anyway, Echizen may have gotten good at hiding his feelings.

“Most of the story’s fake,” Echizen said, “I only told that stupid reporter I loved her to make them go away.”

And that was something Tezuka hadn’t expected. Something stirred within him, something he’d kept repressed for many years.

“The whole thing was for show anyway,” Echizen continued and Tezuka wondered vaguely why he was telling him all this. He didn’t mind at all -was happy to be Echizen’s confidant- but this wasn’t the kind of thing you told an old acquaintance after many years apart. Certainly not the first thing you would tell them.

“I got to hide and she got the profile boost from dating me, it worked well until she tried to hurt Karupin.” Echizen glared at the floor whilst scratching Karupin behind the ears. Tezuka remained silent, waiting for Echizen to continue. “He got fur on her clothes and she tried to kick him. So we had a fight and she accused me of loving Karupin more than her -which is true- and I had to remind her that our relationship was fake and it got really annoying and she stormed out,” Echizen shrugged again, suddenly sounding very tired.

“I’m just waiting for her to go to the press about the string of men I was with and then I’ll be the bad guy,” he added grimly. “So, how’s life treating you?”

“Not bad,” Tezuka replied. “I’m here on holiday.”

“Really? I thought you’d have a host of crazy ex’s chasing after you,” Echizen smirked.

It wasn’t until that night when he was brushing his teeth that ‘the string of men I was with’ finally sunk into Tezuka’s brain along with all the implications.

 

* * *

 

 

It was surprisingly easy to face Echizen again the next morning after taking half a day to work out he was gay. In the end though, all that had changed was that Tezuka had realised that he was just as dense as Fuji teased him as being.

He’d always assumed Echizen was straight what with dating a super model and all. It made Tezuka’s chest hurt to think that he’d been hiding that part of himself all these years. Tezuka himself was private about his sexuality, but he’d never covered it up. He sincerely regretted not keeping in contact with Echizen and felt almost ashamed for not doing so.

When Echizen stumbled down the stairs just as Tezuka was about to set out for a hike he greeted him with a smile, one that Echizen returned.

 

* * *

 

When Tezuka returned later that afternoon, Echizen was sprawled across the sofa, one hand on his phone, the other buried in Karupin’s fur.

“Good walk?” he asked, tearing his eyes away from his phone and up to look at Tezuka.

“It was,” Tezuka replied. He’d done an easy walk through the forest to warm himself up for the rest of the week.

“I’ll come with you next time,” Echizen said.

“That would be very nice,” Tezuka replied. It wasn’t a lie either, there weren’t many people Tezuka liked to hike with, but he was sure Echizen would both keep up and not complain too much. “You will have to wake up early though.” He added, suddenly remembering Echizen’s inability to wake up in middle school and wondering if it was still true.

“I’ll _try_ and join you next time,” Echizen amended his statement.

 

* * *

 

For the rest of the evening, Echizen seemed chained to his phone, his brow furrowed as he scrolled down the screen of whatever social media site he was on. He only looked up from it when Tezuka spoke, which, given it was Tezuka, wasn’t often.

“Will it change anything if you read what she’s said?” Tezuka asked after dinner when Echizen reached for his phone again.

“No,” Echizen admitted, “I still want to know. It’s about me, after all. I hate waiting though. Whatever,” he tossed his phone back down on the table. “Distract me.”

“Me?”

“Yes you, who else would I be talking to?” Echizen snapped.

Tezuka frowned. Echizen may be upset and worried, but that didn’t give him an excuse to be rude. He decided to let it slide this time, although anymore and he would be sending the other man on laps around the cabin.

“Have you kept in contact with any of the others from Seigaku?” Tezuka asked. It was something he was curious about. He hoped he had, Echizen needed friends.

“Yeah, Fuji always emails me and I talk with Momo a lot,” Echizen replied, “Eiji too. I guess I know what everyone’s up to though because of them- even you.”

“Even me?”

“I wasn’t going to find out why you weren’t at any of the grand slams from you, was I?” Echizen smirked and then looked slightly downcast.

“I’m recovering,” Tezuka promised. “I can’t join you though. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah well.” Echizen avoided his eyes and trailed off and Tezuka wished he could say something different, could say that his shoulder was fully healed and strong enough to take on the best in the world by Echizen’s side.

“I still play tennis casually,” He offered. It wasn’t good enough, he couldn’t beat Echizen no matter how hard he tried and they both knew it. Was there any point in playing when the outcome was a forgone conclusion?

“I’d like that,” Echizen replied. “I’ve got some new moves I want to show you.”

“I look forward to it.”

 

* * *

 

 

When Tezuka returned from his walk the late next day he found dinner waiting for him on the table. He hadn’t meant to stay out so late, but had ended up being tempted down a longer path and it was almost dark by the time he arrived back at the cabin.

“I thought you’d gotten lost,” Echizen greeted him with a smirk, although there was something about his eyes that told Tezuka he’d been worried.

“I’m sorry,” Tezuka replied, his hand moving by itself and patting the top of Echizen’s head.  Echizen smiled and didn’t say anything, just enjoyed his hair being slightly ruffled.  

“Come on, dinner’s ready,” Echizen said, grabbing Tezuka’s arm and pulling him into the dining room.

As they were eating, the wind picked up outside and thick, dark clouds rolled their way into the valley.

“I was worried you wouldn’t be back before the storm hit,” Echizen admitted as one particularly heavy gust hit the cabin, causing the windows to shake.

“I saw it building on the horizon,” Tezuka replied. He’d been a bit worried towards the end as to whether he’d make it back safely, but luck had been on his side. Looking back on it, he’d gotten careless.

Above them, the lights flickered and they both eyed the chandelier warily.

“I think we’ll be without power tonight,” Echizen said grimly. “We’ll have to cuddle to keep warm.” This statement was much less grim and Tezuka felt his face heat up at the thought. Echizen would be so warm against him, his head tucked under Tezuka’s chin.

“We do have a fireplace,” Tezuka reminded him.

“How romantic,” Echizen smirked, his fingers sliding lightly across the blank screen of his phone. “Cuddling by the fireplace,” he clarified when he was met by an equally blank look on Tezuka’s face.

“Oh,” was all Tezuka could say, his face heating up again as his mind filled with images of cuddling with Echizen, the bottle of Champaign he’d spotted in the fridge open on the coffee table.

Echizen was still smirking at him, looking at him the same way, Tezuka imagines, Karupin looked at a mouse. No one had ever really looked at him like that before, if Tezuka didn’t have complete control over himself, he’d be squirming under the intensity of Echizen’s gaze.

The lights flickered again as the wind howled and Tezuka didn’t look away, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. He couldn’t tell how he felt. Excited? Nervous? Completely out of his depth? Turned on? All of them at once?

“Echi-“ he started and the lights cut out completely.

There was silence for a beat, only the wind and the rain battering the cabin and then the screech of Echizen’s chair moving. Hands cupped Tezuka’s face, thumbs carefully stroking across his cheekbones. Tezuka stared up into the darkness to where he thought Echizen’s face was, his heart hammering against his chest.

He was expecting to be kissed, but he still twitched in surprise when the lips touched his own. The kiss was gentle (and slightly to one side- which Echizen quickly fixed), but finished far quicker than Tezuka was expecting.

“Don’t,” Tezuka breathed as Echizen pulled away, grabbing the other man’s waist and pulling him back.

“Please,” Echizen whispered, pressing their lips together again, his fingers twisting into Tezuka’s hair. Tezuka wrapped both his arms around Echizen, holding him close as Echizen kissed him again and again.

“Upstairs,” Tezuka ordered.

It was quite difficult getting from the dining room across the cabin to the stairs and then up with. Mostly due to the heavy darkness, but Echizen was not helping by latching himself onto Tezuka, kissing and touching every inch of him he could get a hold of. The problem was, it was just so tempting to stay where they were and just kiss in the corridor. Echizen felt so good against him, as though they were both made for this. Made to be together.

Eventually, they made it up the stairs and into Echizen’s bedroom where Tezuka was pushed back onto the bed, Echizen climbing on top of him.

“I’ve dreamt about this for years,” Echizen said dreamily before meshing their lips together again.

Tezuka moaned in agreement. Echizen had always been special to him, it was only now that he was beginning to realise in what way.

“Are you sure this is okay?” Echizen asked as they surfaced from a round of deep kissing.

Tezuka nodded before realising it was pitch black. “Yes.”

“Okay,” Echizen said, his voice light and full of happiness, although Tezuka caught a hint of nerves by the way he swallowed. “Do you want to top or bottom?”

It was Tezuka’s turn to hesitate. “I-“ he started before pausing, What was he supposed to say? “What would you recommend?” he settled on.

“Oh,” Echizen caught on. “That’s -I mean, that’s cool. Let’s just see where this goes.”

“Yes,” Tezuka agreed, sliding a hand down Echizen’s spine. “I’m in your hands.”

Echizen laughed, “trust me, I’ll take good care of you.”

Tezuka had never doubted Echizen and nothing about their night together made him regret it.

 

* * *

 

 

The storm had blown over by the next morning, Tezuka had to admit he’d paid no mind to it- Echizen had taken all his attention, not allowing him to think of anything else.

He awoke with Echizen nestled against him, sleeping deeply. Carefully, he extracted himself, pressing a kiss to Echizen’s forehead as he did so. It was so tempting to stay in bed and watch Echizen sleep, but Tezuka was aware that he could be there for hours and he was naturally averse to wasting time in bed.

The power had come back on at some point during the night and Tezuka spent a few moments switching off lights they’d left on. Karupin was sat on the sofa and trotted over to Tezuka, meowing and rubbing up against his legs.

“Do you need feeding?” Tezuka asked the cat, who meowed even louder and Tezuka took that as a ‘yes’.

He wasn’t sure how much food the cat needed, so he just put a little into the bowl -Echizen would feed him properly when he got up.

Just as he stood up from putting the bowl down (which was immediately pounced upon by Karupin), Echizen’s phone started to ring. Tezuka looked around, hoping to see Echizen coming into the kitchen, but he was no doubt still fast asleep upstairs.

Feeling that the phone better be answered than ignored, Tezuka picked it up and read ‘Mom’ on the caller ID before answering. “Echizen Ryoma’s phone,” he said formally.

“Oh, who is this?”

“Tezuka Kunimitsu,” Tezuka replied. “I went to school with Echizen,” he added.

“Ah, Tezuka,” Rinko said happily, “I take it my son is with you.”

“He’s asleep,” Tezuka told her and she laughed. “I can wake him up if you’d like.”

“Don’t worry, he could do with some sleep. Tezuka, has Ryoma told you what’s been happening in his personal life?”

“He told me the truth, yes.”

“He’s having a very hard time,” Rinko said, “and it’s unfortunately got worse overnight. I’m glad you’re with him; Ryoma thinks very highly of you.”

“I’ll look after him,” Tezuka promised as Echizen shuffled sleepily into the room.

Tezuka handed the phone over and left Echizen to talk with his mother. It didn’t take a genius to work out that his fake girlfriend had gone to the press and outed Echizen. Echizen crawled into his lap after the phone call, Karupin in his arms. Tezuka looped his arms around him, hugging him close. Echizen sighed deeply and melted against him, rubbing a purring Karupin behind the ears.

“Stay with me,” Echizen said quietly.

“Of course,” Tezuka promised for the second time that morning.

Tezuka didn’t know how long they’d be able to stay in this cabin, certainly no more than another week and after that… well, they’d work it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
